The Friends We're Better Off Without
by snoozin81
Summary: Santana becomes best friends with Brittany who's cute and bubbly and a much needed break from the constant bickering that she and Quinn can't seem to over come.


They're five when their mother's enter them into the i_Little Ladies of Lima/i_ beauty pageant.

Santana spends weeks preparing, practicing her singing for hours every night, walking around the house in her sparkly, Dorothy of Oz slippers, letting her older sister Maria try different hair styles even though she hates the way the brush yanks viciously at the matted tangles in her thick hair. When the day finally arrives she appraises herself in the vanity mirror, admiring the blush on her cheeks and the gloss on her lips. She's certain she's going to win until the polished blonde walks in and takes the seat beside her.

Quinn doesn't want to be there but her mother forces her into a pearly white dress, with sequence that sparkle beneath the bright stage lights and a pair of patent leather shoes that pinch her toes. She forces a smile trying to ignore the yucky taste of the Vaseline on her teeth and the fear tumbling in her tummy as she taps her way across the stage, twirling her brand new baton. When the judges call her name as the winner she hears her father yell, i_"That's my Quinny!"/i_ over top the roaring applause and for the first time in a long time (ever) she doesn't feel trapped by her older sister's shadow.

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In fourth grade their teacher's host a career day. Quinn spends her entire art period making a personalized invitation for her father. She's not really sure what he does exactly but their house is pretty and she and her sister have always gotten everything they've ever asked for including ponies for Christmas three years ago so she's sure it's impressive.

He doesn't show up though and she's disappointed and hurt. She sits in the back of the class with her chin resting on top of her folded hands as she listens to doctors, and lawyers, and cops go on and on about the importance of their jobs. She's not impressed and she's not alone, Santana sits beside her, legs swinging back and forth as she rolls her eyes with each new speaker.

"How come your parents aren't here," Quinn whispers across the gap between their desks once the class is distracted by a cop with the K-9 unit who's just brought his dog into the room.

Santana looks at her classmate with disdain but leans into the isle to reply, "My dad's a very important doctor and my mom's on sabbatical in Puerto Vallarta. You?"

Before Quinn can come up with a sufficient white lie (her mother says those are the only kind the church allows) Mrs. Suarez clears her throat and levels the girls with a stern look. It saves her from having to answer and she thinks maybe she and Santana can be friends after all.

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Middle school changes everything. Santana becomes best friends with Brittany who's cute and bubbly and a much needed break from the constant bickering that she and Quinn can't seem to over come. There are boys too that naturally Quinn doesn't approve of but that doesn't stop Santana from slow dancing with Dave Karofsky at the first open gym, or from couples skating with Travis Loopen at his birthday party, and it definitely doesn't stop her from kissing Noah Puckerman at the winter semi-formal.

By seventh grade Noah's turned into Puck and she's letting him french her under the bleachers before first bell. She thinks maybe she's in love with him and that maybe she's ready to go farther than kissing.

She confesses her feelings to Quinn and Brittany at one of their slumber parties. She's not really surprised that Quinn immediately chastises her, calling her a slut, and insisting she'll go to hell for her promiscuity but she is kind of hurt. Luckily, Brittany is a little more understanding, agreeing that Puck is itotally cute/i and ia really great kisser/i (a fact she knows thanks to a game of spin the bottle).

Quinn doesn't admit that she's kissed Puck too or that she may have enjoyed it way more than she should have. She definitely doesn't admit that she's developed some feeling for him and that that's the real reason she doesn't want Santana sleeping with him.

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Being a Cheerio has always been Quinn's dream, it's the one thing her sister was never good at. She spends hours training, cuts out the carbs from her diet, and runs four miles every morning before school just to get into shape. She goes after the captain spot despite only being a freshman and she doesn't care who she has to step on in order to obtain it.

Santana doesn't appreciate the Ked marks on her back so when the senior Cheerios throws a party for the new girls she invites Puck to be her date. She whispers dirty promises into his ear when she knows Quinn's watching and then leads him up the stairs to an empty bedroom.

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She's amused when she finds out Quinn's pregnant and pissed when she finds out that Puck's the father although she hides it pretty well.

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She doesn't know what kind of game Santana and Brittany are playing but she doesn't appreciate them dragging Finn into it. She cries when she finds out that he actually sleeps with Santana but she blames it on the hormones and not the fact that Santana always seems to get there first.


End file.
